Judge refuses to dismiss Lay, Skilling charges

Published 6:30 am, Monday, January 9, 2006

A federal judge today finally denied a motion by Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling asking that their criminal charges all be dismissed.

U.S. District Judge Sim Lake had stated informally in early December that he'd heard no evidence of prosecutorial misconduct or that Enron prosecutors improperly intimidated witnesses to keep them from aiding ex-Enron executives Lay and Skilling in their defense. That was the chief basis for Lay and Skilling asking their felony charges be dropped.

In today's ruling, Lake said he was not persuaded by the hearsay-based information in affidavits, mostly from defense attorneys in this case. The judge also held a hearing and heard first-hand from two lawyers for some witnesses and said there was no evidence there either.

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"The court is not persuaded that defendants have shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the government has substantially interfered with the ability of defense counsel to interview potential witnesses, or that the government has engaged in any practice that denies defendants the right to a fair trial," Lake wrote.

Lay and Skilling face fraud, conspiracy and other charges in a trial set to begin Jan. 30.

The motion to dismiss was originally joined by their third codefendant Rick Causey, Enron's former top accountant, but he has since pleaded guilty and dropped out of the trial.